Silly question to those of you who just became US citizens

[Staashi 371]

My husband is from Argentina. He doesn't consider himself Latino or Hispanic, he is white and that is how he put it on the application. I'm sure he will say in the future that he is Argentine with U.S. Citizenship.

I used to go to Argentine every other summer for a month when I lived in Paraguay. My family would alternate between the Brazilian and Argentine beaches. Sometimes we would go to Punta del Este in Uruguay.

Good luck in your upcoming interview.

Thanks...we can't believe it is tomorrow morning. Argentina is a truly lovely country...such variety in the geography.

[NickD 202]

My husband is from Argentina. He doesn't consider himself Latino or Hispanic

Ha, kind of like a multiple choice question where none of the answers are precisely correct, but what they consider the correct answer is the least wrong one.

Under the race section to bad they don't show color photographs so you can choose one of the five that you most resemble. With her, Black, Asian, or South Pacific was out of the question leaving the choice between white and hispanic. By a number of definitions, the word hispanic has nothing to do with race, the physical characteristics of the person.

"Definitions in the USA

Further information: Racial demographics of the United States and Race and ethnicity in the United States Census and History of Latinos and Hispanics in the United States

During the 1970s, the United States Government defined the term "Hispanic" to identify Latin American individuals, and their descendants, living in the U.S., regardless of race.[6]

The ethnic label Hispanic was the result of efforts by a New Mexican U.S. Senator, Joseph Montoya, who wanted a label that could be used to quantify the Spanish-speaking population for the US Census. The label Hispanic was chosen in part because in New Mexico, people of Spanish descent such as Montoya referred to themselves as hispanos which was anglicized as "Hispanic".

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget currently defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race".[7]

The terms Hispanic and Latino tend to be used interchangeably in the United States, due largely to a syntax inconsistency between the English language and the Spanish language.[citation needed] Some define the term "Latino" as a shortened version of the noun '"Latin American". Others define the word "Latin" as the name of the language used by the ancient Romans, while "Latino" is the name given to the people who spoke the language."

So if hispanic is not even a race, why is it one of the race choices? Slang use of the word here refers to the Mexican with strong Indian traits, but with very fair skin, green eyes, and medium to light brown hair, we choose white. But remarkable the time we spent on what should be a simple question, ha, should have been a check box, none of the above. The key definition of an hispanic is one that uses Spanish as the primary language.

My wife speaks, reads, and writes, English very well, but does have a very unique accent that no one can pinpoint, it's just that she has a very pleasant sounding voice. She did want to check the Hispanic or Latino box as Spanish is still her primary language.

I visited my wife's home country of Colombia, then she moved to Venezuela for better job opportunities, I have positively the best in-laws a guy could ever ask for, and also very beautiful country. Was very impressed with the lack of air conditioning and central heating systems, with a temperature variation of 60 to 80*F, don't need them. Ha, think about that living in northern WI with the new high energy costs and temperature ranges from -45 to 110*F. Wife doesn't like to claim Colombia because of it's drug reputation, I only met hard working good honest people there and practically of all races.

But did see a lot of bars down there and not the kind that serves drinks, on practically every window and door.

[jane doe 0]

I’ve been searching on the net and this is actually a very good question. here's what I found. hope it sheds some light

"US citizenship vs. US nationality

US law makes a distinction between "citizenship" and "nationality." All US citizens are also US nationals; however, some US nationals are not US citizens.

The term "national of the United States" is defined in Section 101(a)(22) of the INA [8 USC § 1101(a)(22)] as "a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States".

Section 308 of the INA [8 USC § 1408] says (more or less) that a person born in an "outlying possession" of the US -- or a foreign-born child of such a person -- is a US national, but not a US citizen. At the present time, the only "outlying possessions" of the US, as defined in 8 USC § 1101(a)(29), are American Samoa and Swains Island (in the South Pacific).

Note that people born in the following places are defined in Sections 302-307 of the INA [8 USC §§ 1402-1407] to be US citizens: Puerto Rico; the Canal Zone; Alaska and Hawaii (before they became states); the US Virgin Islands; and Guam. "

*Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone and based solely on my experience. Anything I say should not be construde as legal advice. As with all such matters please consult your attorney before taking action*